Apex court scraps reinstatement of 85 election officers 

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court (SC) has scrapped the Administrative Appellate Tribunal order that had ordered the reinstatement of 85 sacked Election Commission (EC) officials back in 2010.

A full bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique passed the order on Thursday.

Hearing on the state's appeal moved in this regard was concluded on Sunday (28 August).

The concerned EC officers – who were appointed during the BNP-Jamaat alliance government – were terminated in September, 2007, during the last caretaker government's rule.

The election officers filed a case with the administrative appellate tribunal challenging the cancellation of their recruitment.

The tribunal in a verdict on 12 April, 2010, declared the termination of the upazila election officers "illegal."

On 17 May, the EC reinstated them as per this verdict.

However, the High Court (HC) on 20 May, the same year, stayed for a month the EC's action reinstating the 85 as upazila election officers in response to a public interest litigation.

Following this, the government filed four leave-to-appeal petitions against the order.